1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a content reproducing apparatus, a content reproducing system, and a content reproducing method.
2. Description of the Related Art
Multimedia content typically includes video representing visual information and audio representing audible information. Content reproducing apparatuses that reproduce such content may separate the content into video and audio, decode the video and audio individually, and output the decoded video and audio, for example. In such case, processes after the decoding process are often implemented by hardware in view of performance requirements.
On the other hand, there is an increased demand for power conservation in recent content reproducing apparatuses. In this respect, for example, an image display apparatus is known that sets up an image display unit to power saving mode when an image signal is not included in received content and sets up an audio output unit to power saving mode when an audio signal is not included in the received content (see e.g., Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2009-027458).
According to the technique disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2009-027458, power control is performed based on whether content includes an audio signal or an image signal. Thus, power saving control cannot be adequately performed in a case where content including an audio signal and an image signal primarily contain a silent portion and a black screen, for example. That is, in a content reproducing apparatus that reproduces content including audio and video, it has been difficult to adaptively perform power saving control according to the substance of the content being reproduced, for example.